"Shameless, daring to abduct children in broad daylight."

"Last year, the kidnapper was sentenced to hanging, and I felt that was too lenient."

Wu Musheng and Wu Na, the brother and sister, were surrounded by an angry crowd.

At this time, it was lunchtime, and when people heard about the kidnapper, they came out with kitchen knives and spatulas, eager to chop the kidnapper to pieces.

A burly uncle with a beard stepped forward to rescue Hua Er.

Wu Musheng held Hua Er tightly and shouted, "I’m the child’s father. Don’t let these kids deceive you, I’m not a kidnapper; I’m the child’s father."

Wu Na added from the side, "I’m the child’s aunt."

Man Er hurriedly said, "You are the kidnapper."

Hua Er cried uncontrollably.

The crowd saw the child crying so badly and thought to themselves how could a child be so scared in their own father’s arms?

They became even more convinced that Wu Musheng and Wu Na were the heartless kidnappers.

The bearded uncle, full of righteousness, slapped Wu Musheng and took advantage of his pain to rescue Hua Er.

An elderly woman came up, holding Hua Er’s hand, and pointed at Wu Musheng, cursing, "Beast! You still claim you’re not the kidnapper? No real father would bruise their child’s arm like that."

The crowd looked and saw Hua Er’s arm was already bruised and purple from Wu Musheng’s grip.

"That’s right, they’re kidnappers."

"Shameless, pretending to be the father and aunt to deceive us."

"Report to the authorities!"

"County Magistrate Liu has no tolerance for kidnappers."

The crowd surrounded Wu Musheng and Wu Na, yelling to take them to the authorities.

Daring to abduct children in broad daylight.

These neighbors all have children of their own. Normally, when kids play in the alley, parents never worry about them being abducted.

Now, how dare these two openly abduct children; they should be taken to see the authorities.

Wu Musheng and Wu Na were scared out of their wits, especially Wu Na, who was terrified beyond measure.

"Catch them."

Wu Musheng and Wu Na tried to escape but were blocked by the furious crowd.

"Whose children are these, they look unfamiliar?" The elderly woman holding Hua Er asked.

At this point, the neighbors realized they were just some unfamiliar children.

Man Er was about to answer, their grandmother Tong Hua Qiong owned the Jufula Supermarket, when a voice in the crowd said, "Aren’t these two kidnappers the young master and miss of the Wu Ji? You’ve misunderstood them, that girl Hua Er is indeed a child of the Wu family."

Man Er couldn’t see who it was, as the person was blocked by others.

Xiao Long, however, recognized the voice as Gu Ruinian’s.

Reminded by the voice, Wu Musheng clasped his hands and said to everyone, "You’ve really misunderstood. Wu Ji is our family’s department store. If you don’t believe it, ask around and you’ll know." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

He then pointed to Hua Er, saying, "Hua Er is indeed my daughter."

At this moment, someone indeed recognized Wu Musheng and Wu Na as the young master and miss of the Wu Ji.

The bearded uncle asked, "You say this little girl is your daughter, then why doesn’t she recognize you? Instead, she says you are the kidnapper. If you’re truly the father, why are you sneaky like a thief?"

Wu Musheng sighed, "Brother, it’s truly embarrassing to say. My wife misunderstood me and separated a year ago, taking the child and not letting me see her. I miss the child dearly, and today I unexpectedly met her on the street, so I stepped forward to reunite. But the child, taught by her mother, doesn’t recognize me as her father and even considers me a kidnapper."

Wu Na added, "I heard that my good sister-in-law wants to take my niece and remarry someone else. Hua Er is our family, how can my brother, as the father, let his daughter recognize someone else as her father?"

Upon hearing this, the crowd hesitated.

Theoretically, their shop, Wu Ji, is on a bustling street. How could they be kidnappers? If they abducted people on the street, how could they still do business?

"I heard that the young master of the Wu Ji indeed separated," someone said quietly, "my sister’s family is from Black Dragon Pond, and the Wu Ji owner is the village chief there. The separation of his daughter-in-law was widely talked about."

Hua Er cried.

Aunt and dad were both wrong.

What "wife", "separation", "marry someone else", Man Er and Yaozu didn’t quite understand these words.

It didn’t matter that they didn’t understand; they knew they absolutely couldn’t let Hua Er be taken away.

"A separated woman has defied societal norms, and the bond between father and daughter is even more of a crime." This voice in the crowd supported Wu Musheng.

It was Gu Ruinian’s voice.

He hid out of sight, afraid to expose himself to Man Er and Yaozu.

Wu Musheng was about to take Hua Er, but Hua Er resisted.

The bearded uncle hesitated for a moment and advised, "Child, that’s your father; he won’t hurt you."

He had a daughter too, and if his daughter didn’t recognize him, he’d be heartbroken.

Empathizing, he believed Wu Musheng must feel the same way.

In an instant, the situation reversed, turning Wu Musheng from a kidnapper into a father longing for his child after separation.

The elderly woman who had discovered the bruises on Hua Er’s arm looked at Wu Musheng and asked, "If what you say is true, if you loved the child, why did you let her go with her mother when you separated?"

Wu Musheng was taken aback.

Why let the child go with Tong Pandi? Naturally, because girls were considered a burden.

Wu Musheng stammered, unsure how to answer.

The elderly woman continued, "I’ve only heard of divorce, not separation. We’re all women, all mothers. Unless life is unbearable, who would think of separation? Think about it, if a woman faces difficulty after separation, taking a child along means it must be worse. If a mother takes the child away, doesn’t it show something? Let me boldly suggest, this family probably treats the child no better than a kidnapper, and the mother couldn’t bear to see the child suffer, so she took her away."

She pointed at Wu Musheng, "As for why she’d abuse the child, it’s simple, it’s because she’s a girl. I’ve seen it many times, a man’s failure to have a son gets blamed on the woman for having daughters."

"Also, if you loved the child so much, why did you agree when the child’s mother left with them? If you hadn’t agreed, would the authorities or your family have let them go?"

The old woman’s words hit the nail on the head.

It’s common to discriminate against a wife for not bearing a son, thus mistreating both the mother and daughter.

Hearing this, the crowd shifted their sympathy to contempt toward Wu Musheng.

Wu Musheng hurriedly defended, "Madam, you’re completely wronging me with this."

"Wu Musheng, you shameless beast, how dare you have designs on Hua Er."

Tong Hua Qiong, accompanied by Nie Xiaofeng and Su Chengmin, arrived in the alley, just as Tong Pandie did.

Tong Pandie immediately cursed when she saw Wu Musheng.

Man Er, seeing Tong Hua Qiong had arrived, shouted, "My grandmother is here."

The reason Tong Hua Qiong came to know that Wu Musheng was causing trouble was that the clever Xiao Long gave the cotton candy vendor some money to notify Tong Hua Qiong.

When Tong Hua Qiong received the information, she rushed over. Seeing Man Er, Hua Er, and others all present, she sighed with relief.

Tong Hua Qiong had made quite a name for herself in Pingchuan County lately, almost everyone knew she was the owner of Jufula.

Upon hearing Man Er calling her grandmother, they realized these children were from Manager Tong’s family.

Jufula and Wu Ji...

Everyone exchanged glances, no wonder Wu Ji compared prices with Jufula; at first, they didn’t understand why, now it seemed there was underlying hatred involved.

Looking closely, Tong Pandi and Tong Hua Qiong had similar facial features, and quite a few people assumed Tong Pandi was Tong Hua Qiong’s daughter and Hua Er her granddaughter.

Widow Tong could start a business that took Pingchuan by storm on her own, she wasn’t a novice.

There would likely be more drama to see.

"Shameless." Tong Hua Qiong approached Wu Musheng and slapped him without hesitation.